Cmara's Princesses stories
by Carly-AKA-Cmara
Summary: Seven romantic stories based off 'The Barefoot book of princesses', featuring most of your favorite Cartoon-X-over couples. Read and review, but no flames! I mean it!
1. Chapter 1

"_**The Princess & the pea", a Shadow x Alyssa story**_

Once upon a time, there was a hedgehog, Prince Shadow, who wanted to marry a princess. Not just ANY princess, but a _real _princess. His parents, the kind King Beast and Queen Belle, looked far and wide for one. They invited princess after princess to come and visit them.

_Some were too thin_

_Some were too fat_

_Some didn't speak the same language_

_Some had too many dogs_

_Some liked horses better than people_

_Some wore rather silly clothes_

_Some giggled too much_

_And some princesses were altogether too beautiful _

Although they each had a king and queen for a father and mother, not one princess was quite to Shadow's taste. Not one of them was a _real _princess…

--

One dark night, while a storm crashed and clattered over the kingdom, there was a knock at the castle door. King Beast went down to see who it was. It was a very wet princess. She was so wet, it was difficult to see where her golden-blonde hair stopped and the rain began.

"WHO ARE YOU?" shouted King Beast over the thunderclaps.

"I AM A REAL PRINCESS, ALYSSALIONESS94!" shouted the wet princess, Alyssa, as the lightning ripped the dark clouds apart.

Shadow was asleep upstairs, but he awoke when he heard Alyssa's voice in the hall below. Queen Belle peered around the door, thinking to herself, _'Ah… a real princess, eh? We'll soon see about that…' _then out loud, Queen Belle said, "Do come in. whoever you are, young lady, you shouldn't stay outside in this weather. You shall sleep here tonight."

"Thank you, your Highness…" the wet Alyssa curtsied to King Beast and Queen Belle, stepping inside while dripping puddles on the hall floor. Shadow looked over the stair rail at Alyssa.

_She wasn't too thin_

_She wasn't too fat_

_She seemed to speak his language_

_She had no dogs or horses_

_She didn't wear silly clothes or giggle_

_And she was not too beautiful…_

Well, about the beauty part, he seemed rather attracted to her long hair that shined like gold in sunlight and her eyes were like crystal-blue sapphires… Shadow hoped in his secret heart that she was a _real _princess…

--

Queen Belle went upstairs to make up the guest bedroom herself. She took all the bedclothes off the bed and, on the bare wooden slats, she placed a single pea. Then she went to the cupboard and brought out 20 mattresses filled with the softest, downiest feathers in the whole kingdom. On top of the mattresses, she put 20 embroidered silk quilts.

"Come in, my dear." Said Queen Belle to Alyssa. "I'll send up some supper and some dry clothes and you can sleep here tonight."

Alyssa dried herself off in front of the great fireplace, put on a sweetly scented nightdress and ate her supper. She had come a long way in the rain and she was indeed very sleepy.

The bed towered above Alyssa like a mountain, but she managed to climb up all of the 20 mattresses on nimble toes until she reached the top. Then she cast herself down on the 20 eiderdowns and closed her eyes. In the middle of the night, Queen Belle couldn't resist peeping into the bedchamber to have a good look at her…

--

Next morning, when Alyssa came down to breakfast, Queen Belle asked her, "And how did you sleep?"

Alyssa blushed a light red. She knew it wasn't polite to be silent when you were asked a question, but she was always taught to speak the truth, so she replied, "I'm afraid I couldn't get a wink last night. I was tossing and turning, maybe there was something in the bed 'cause I've got these bruises."

And Queen Belle looked knowingly to King Beast, who nodded and looked at Shadow, who turned to Alyssa, smiling as he asked, "You've slept on 20 mattresses and 20 quilts, and you still felt the pea under them all?"

Alyssa nodded.

"Then you must be a _real _princess!" exclaimed the hedgehog prince.

"It's true, I am, the princess daughter of King Banzai and Queen Shenzi." Said Alyssa, feeling her bruises.

"Only a _real _princess could be so sensitive," said Queen Belle. King Beast nodded wisely and ordered some embrocation for Alyssa's bruises.

Prince Shadow and Princess Alyssa were married. They put the pea in the royal museum where all the people could see it. And if you don't believe me, even in a parody, you can go and see for yourselves!


	2. Chapter 2

"_**The Mountain Princess", a Tigress x Leo story**_

Once upon a time, there lived King Shere Kahn whose daughter was named Tigress. She was as beautiful as she was clever. But as she grew up, Tigress studied the art of magic and became less and less human. People say that she was no ordinary girl at all, but the child of the sun, moon and stars, and princess of the mighty tigers.

Tigress grew even more beautiful with her autumn/midnight fur and amber pupils, but her heart remained hard as ice. She even had power to make men love her, but she had no love in her heart in return for any of them. Unfortunately, whoever looked at her, prince or peasant, became drunk with love for her. Suitors came from every land to gaze upon her and try to win her hand. When Tigress refused to marry any of them, they wouldn't go away. Soon, the palace was filled with heroes and princes sighing with love…

More and more, Tigress would stay inside her study and look from the window towards a tall, lofty mountain covered with white snow. Like the tiger princess, it was cold and single.

She called for her father, King Shere Kahn (who could refuse her nothing) and said to him, "Dearest Father, I must go far from here. These many suitors who throng our halls are like bees around a hive. Please build for me a strong castle on that mountain so that I may have some peace." King Shere Kahn felt sorry that his daughter wanted to live far from him, but he granted her request. A great castle with many towers was built for Tigress, its turrets piercing the very clouds themselves. And so Tigress moved into her stronghold with only her servants for company. People now called her 'the Mountain Princess'.

Tigress was happy in her solitude. She could track the stars across the midnight sky, discover strange inventions and paint her pictures. To make absolute sure that none of her suitors followed her to the fortress, she made soldiers out of iron and stone to be her watchmen. Whoever came up the path would be killed by the magic swords which the watchmen held in their hands. Tigress also made an invisible gate.

Satisfied that nobody would come upon her unawares, Tigress took up her brushes and painted her own life-sized portrait upon fine silk. It was almost more beautiful than the princess because it was painted with a magic brush. And in the corner, she wrote;

'_Prince or hero, to marry me_

_These four things you must achieve_

_Noble and beautiful you must be_

_Through magic swords your way must cleave._

_Next you must find the hidden gate_

_Answer my riddles or face your fate._

_Whoever fails will lose his life_

_And never take me as his wife.'_

Tigress ordered that this portrait be displayed in the main square of the town. Suitors came from all sides to gaze upon it. Some, suddenly maddened by love of the unattainable princess, set out immediately and were swiftly killed by the magic swords. The heads of those who died were set up over the city gate as a warning to the unwary.

A prince, Captain Leo or Leo for short, whom had not heard about Tigress rode into the town one day and was struck by the radiant face of the tiger princess on the image in the square. Leo felt the incurable pangs of love seize his heart, even as he shuddered with horror when he heard about the terrible fate of her former suitors.

--

Concealing his passion, he began to think of how he might win the tiger princess. Before going to the mountain, Leo withdrew for a while to the wilderness. There, he discovered a wise baboon named Rafiki living in a cave. Leo decided to ask Rafiki for his advice. Rafiki gazed into dark-blue depths of the night sky. He prayed and watched the stars. Finally, he said to Leo, "I can help you, but you must go to the princess with a pure heart within you."

Leo then said, "I don't seek her for my own sake, but for the sakes of all who come to her mountain and find death! I vow to conquer the danger, or may my head also be impaled upon the gate!"

Rafiki blessed him and gave him careful instructions, saying, "In token of your vow, put on these blood-red clothes and go forth to the princess's castle without fear."

--

Leo came to the mountain path where the iron and stone watchmen stood with their sharp swords. As Rafiki had told him, Leo dug a trench in the ground and called upon the spirits of the Earth. The spirits guided his steps so that none of the magic swords hurt him. Now Leo reached the top of the mountain. The walls of the fortress rose on every side. As the baboon had told him, Leo took out a drum and struck it. Then he listened carefully to the echoes and soon found the invisible gate.

Tigress had been watching Leo's progress in her magic mirror, which showed her whatever she wished to see. As soon as Leo entered the fortress, Tigress sent a message to him; _"You have been fortunate, adventurer. You have passed through the magic swords, and you have found the invisible gate. Go now to my father's palace and meet me there in 2 days. Be prepared to answer the riddles I will set."_

Leo returned to the town where the people greeted him with joy. He went to the square, took down the portrait of Tigress and gave to his servant for safekeeping. Next, he took down the skulls of the unhappy suitors and buried them out the city walls.

--

On the icy mountain, Tigress who saw everything in her magic mirror, smiled. She began to wish that this prince might have the key to her mysterious riddles.

--

Everyone came to the palace to see the princess set the prince her riddles. King Shere Kahn sat on his throne, while Tigress stood behind a curtain where she could see but not be seen. King Shere Kahn began, "Let the first riddle be set!"

Tigress took one of her earrings and broke off two matching pearls, saying to her servant, "Give these to Prince Leo." Leo looked at the pearls and asked for a pair of scales. He weighed them, added three more pearls from his own bag and returned all five to Tigress.

The people leaned forward to see what was going on.

Tigress weighed the pearls, crushed them into dust with some sugar and gave the mixture to Leo. He immediately asked for a glass of milk, and then he stirred the pearl-dust into it and sent it back to Tigress, who drank it.

The people frowned and muttered. What did this mean?

Then Tigress took a brilliant diamond ring from her finger and gave it to Leo. He immediately put it on his own hand and sent her back a beautiful pearl. Tigress looked at the pearl. She found another the same size and color on her necklace; she tied them together with thread and gave them to Leo.

The people were baffled. Their mutterings grew louder and louder. What kind of riddle could this be?

Leo couldn't see which one was which, so he tied them both to a blue glass marble from his pocket and sent it back to Tigress. When she saw the marble, she kissed it and tied it to her wrist. She came out from the curtain and said to King Shere Kahn, "Father, please arrange our wedding right away, for I have found a husband who is my equal in wisdom!"

The people began to shout and cry out in confusion. King Shere Kahn looked bewildered, "But my angel, I don't understand. What went on between you?"

Tigress then explained, "When I sent Prince Leo the two pearls to say '_Your life is worth only two days, make good use of them!'. _By adding three more pearls, he said to me, '_Even if my life lasted five days, it would pass quickly.' _When I first mixed pearl-dust and sugar together, I was saying to him '_How can I tell true love from false love?' _by sending it back to me in a glass of milk, he was saying to me, '_One act of truth separates the true from the false.' _And so I drank to his brave deeds that come from a true heart.I sent him a ring to show that I consented to marry him. He sent me one great pearl meaning, '_Just as you'll never find a second ring like this, so you will never find me a wife who is my equal.'"_

Tigress smiled and continued, "But I've found a great pearl like his in my necklace and sent it to him meaning, _'I am that wife!' _and then he had to admit that no two people in the whole world were better suited, so he sent me the blue glass marble to say, _'We are equal under the blue skies of heaven.'_"

King Shere Kahn and the people sighed with content. The courage of Prince Leo had melted the icy heart of Tigress so that she was their dear princess again. Tigress was married to the brave Leo, who forever afterwards wore red clothes in memory of that day. The people called him King Leo Redcloak, and he and Tigress reigned in perfect gentleness all the days of their lives.


	3. Chapter 3

"_**The Princess who lost her hair", a Ariel x Sora story**_

Long ago there lived a king named Triton, who had one daughter named Princess Ariel. She had a face as clear as glass and eyes like jewels. But from far and wide, people came to see her glorious scarlet hair which shone like rubies.

One day when Ariel was in her room, a strange green hawk named Jet flew in and spoke to her, "Beautiful princess Ariel, I heard everyone say of how magnificent you are and now I believe them."

Ariel felt a warm glow in her stomach, for she had never been praised by a speaking bird before. Her father had taught her to be polite to everyone so she replied, modestly, "Thank you. I know that I am very fortunate and it is wonderful that I have the loveliest hair in my father's kingdom."

Jet nodded his head, "Indeed it is. Now, since you have so much of it, I wonder if you could spare me some. I need something fine and soft with which I need to line my nest before Wave lays her eggs. Please give me a few strands."

Ariel clutched her head and cried in dismay, "Give you my beautiful hair to make a nest? Not one hair will I even give you! Fly away quickly, you ugly old hawk before my father's archers shoot you!"

Jet put his head on one side. "They could never harm me. Now think again, princess. Will you give me some of your hair?"

"No, no! No, I won't!" she cried.

Jet flew out of the window and around the tree in the garden, singing:

_As leaves drop and the dry season's fall_

_May this girl have to hair at all_

_Leaves return with springtime's rain_

_But when will her hair grow again?_

As first Ariel was truly frightened by this song, but later she forgot all about it as the year turned…

Then the dry season came. As the leaves fell from the branches, so Ariel's hair also began to fall out. Ashamed and angry, Ariel hid from everyone until Triton came and saw for himself why she was hiding. He listened to Ariel's story. Then he called all of the wisest women and magicians to him saying, "Whoever brings my daughter's hair back, I will give that person their weight in gold." But no one could do it.

All of Ariel's hair fell out, so that she had to remain hidden away in her room. Then one night, she had a strange dream. She saw a tree that produced hair and a fine young brown spiky-haired man who danced around the tree, singing:

_Where there is no grass grown,_

_There shall some seeds be sown_

_And scarlet hair shall be mown_

In her dream, Ariel also saw the young man plant a seed from which a big tree grew. On its branches grew fruit. As each fruit ripened, so long hair covered it.

When she awoke, Ariel could think of nothing but the dream. She went and told Triton what she had dreamt. Triton called the wise women and magicians together again and bade them to look for the seeds of the hair tree. He promised, "Whoever finds the seeds of that tree will have their height in gold!" but no one have ever heard of such a tree.

--

In that country, there was a poor young man called Sora. He had heard about Ariel, the princess who had no hair. "I will set out myself to find this tree." He said. Sora traveled to every part of the land, asking the birds, beasts and trees if they had heard of the hair tree. But none of them could help him. _'I have found nothing upon the land,' _he thought, _'So I will take to the sea.'_

Sora sailed in his little boat to a strange land where he found a beautiful golden tree. It stretched up to the sky and at the very top it was shaped like a golden dome. Suddenly the ground shook and the top of the tree exploded, splitting into many pieces. Sora threw himself to the ground, covering his head. When he arose, Sora found the ground was covered with red bean pods. He put them into his bag and hurried back to his boat.

As he sailed away, he heard a thunderous sound of great wings. A familiar green hawk, Jet, flew down and sat opposite him, asking, "Did you take beans from the island?"

Sora nodded fearfully. "Then give me a bean," croaked Jet, "And tell me where you going."

Sora told Jet about the mermaid princess with no hair. "Ah yes! I remember that girl. She refused to give me a few hairs for me and Wave's nest… give another bean and tell me more!"

Sora fed Jet, trembling and told him all about Ariel's dream.

"That girl should've been more generous. But you will seek long for that tree unless you listen to me!" and Jet told Sora how to find the hair tree.

--

Sora sailed on and came to a strange place where the trees and flowers/Seedrians walked. There were no people or animals anywhere. As he walked on, a young Seedrian named Cosmo questioned him, "Who are you and what are you looking for?"

"I am a man." Said Sora, "And I am looking for the hair tree." He told Cosmo all about his quest to help Princess Ariel.

Cosmo said, "It was good you gave a bean to the great hawk for otherwise, he would have eaten you. As you are the first man I have ever met, I will help you. But first give me one of the beans, for I too am hungry." Sora opened his pouch and fed Cosmo, who then showed him the way he should follow.

The path became narrow. The wind blew hard. A terrible noise like the crashing of a waterfall filled his ears. It was too hard to remember what Jet and Cosmo had told him, and Sora stopped. In the middle of the part stood a huge rock. He could go no further. But then he looked again and saw that there was a tiny door in the rock with these words written upon it:

'_He who knows can pass within_

_Fearing nothing he shall win'_

As soon as he read these words, Sora remembered what he had to say. He whispered these words to the door,

"_I'm the one who knows, knows_

_For the winds blows, blows_

_And the water flows, flows_

_Here the hair tree grows, grows_

_I'm the one who knows, knows"_

The little door sprang open and Sora was able to enter the rock. Inside was the hair tree, growing just as in Ariel's dream. Quickly, Sora gathered the hairy fruits and some seeds as well. Then he returned to Triton's home.

Triton and Ariel were overjoyed to see what Sora had brought. The wise women and magicians took the long red hair from the fruit and put it onto Ariel's head. To everyone's surprise, the hair began to grow again, as beautiful as before.

Triton thanked Sora, "My most precious treasure is my daughter and her happiness. As you have restored the joy of all the people, I will give you your weight AND height in gold."

From that moment, Sora was a rich man and Ariel a happy woman. She had loved the fine young man who appeared in her dream but now she saw him with her own eyes. The couple lived together in joy and many years, but their child Melody had black hair like many other people.


End file.
